HCM CITY — Cambodia plans to export 1,000 tonnes of cotton to Viet Nam, the largest order since 1970, by the beginning of next year.

Kong Chan, managing director of Seladamex Co, said the company as well as many other Vietnamese enterprises specialising in other commodities had recently been negotiating a number of deals with Cambodian firms.

Seladamex has found new markets and begun buying additional cotton from farmers in Cambodia’s Battambang Province for US$400 a tonne. After processing, they will export the cotton for $1,500 a tonne.

Trade between Viet Nam and Cambodia is expected to improve next year and surge past Thailand, which has been a major trading partner of Cambodia for many years, economists have said. Despite the global slowdown, trade between the two countries is expected to reach $2 billion next year. Bilateral trade reached $848 million for the first eight months of 2009, a drop of 29.2 per cent compared to the same period last year. — VNS